Preserve and Defend the Outdoors

We at Addicted to hunting are a part of The Outdoor Bloggers Summit. They are a great group of bloggers that have one thing in common, a love for the outdoors. Occasionally they ask us to write about a specific topic, last week they asked for articles about preserving the outdoors. Now we all understand there are a lot of differing viewpoints on how to do this. I wrote a paper a while back about Lake Powell and discovered there are a lot of people that feel the lake should be drained and the canyons that are currently under water be revealed. Some people want ATV’s on the trails, others feel they damage the woods. The opinions are vast and solutions just as many. I think that each addict here would have a different view point but I don’t think we would be too far off from each other.
For me I think the most important factor in the outdoors is use. I love to see nature being used. If it be a family camping on their own in a remote area or a large group gathering in the woods, hunters out hunting, bird watchers out hiking, rowdy teenagers playing in the mud on some 4 wheelers. As long as people are out enjoying nature I think it’s served its purpose.
Now I was a scout and am now a scout leader and I agree with the leave no trace camping that they teach. People with no regard to nature that destroy areas rub me the wrong way. That being said I do put more value on people and the ability for them to get out and enjoy nature than I do on worrying about the damage people will do. Littering in the woods is frustrating; coming up on a stone campfire with beer cans all over the area is annoying.
The Lake Powell argument makes no sense to me at all. Before the lake was there the number of people that visited that area was very little. Now it is an attraction to thousands (I have no clue what an exact number would be) of people each year. Families are able to get out together and enjoy nature. I think that is the point, getting people out!! I don’t expect everyone to like what I do or to think like I do but if they are out and they are enjoying what they are doing in nature then I think we have succeeded. I feel nature is here to serve us, as long as we are kind to her!!
Get out and enjoy whatever it is you like to do!!